College of Healthcare Sciences

I have over 40 years nursing experience in clinical, education, management and research positions in the private and public health sectors, and tertiary facilities. In 1984-85 I was a recipient of a short-term Kellogg Foundation Australian Nursing Fellowship, through which I spent six months at the University of Rochester, New York, U.S.A., exploring my interest in integrating theory with practice.

I have held the position of Nurse Manager – Research, Townsville Hospital and Health Service, since February 2002. A major responsibility of this role is to assist nurse clinicians to engage with research, by undertaking studies and through implementing evidence into their daily practice. I provide research education sessions, and assist nurses and midwives across the health service to: plan and conduct research; write submissions to Human Research Ethics Committees and grant funding bodies; and disseminate research findings. I organised the research forums held annually on International Nurses Day for 10 years. I also collaborate with staff across disciplines on research projects, grant submissions, and research education. I sit on various committees within the health and tertiary sectors, including being part of the Organising Group and Abstract Review Group for the Townsville Health Research Week. As part of Tropical Health Research Unit, I organised and led the monthly Nursing and Midwifery Grand Rounds for the Health Service for five years since their inception in late 2010. I have successfully co-supervised one Master of Nursing Science student to completion; I have also been on the supervisory panel for Bachelor of Nursing Science Honours students. In 2014, I joined the Townsville Hospital and Health Service Human Research Ethics Committee as a Member ‘Category C: Professional care, counselling or treatment of people’.

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Tropikids Pilot Study: Longitudinal study of the social determinants of health and development of children in the tropics. TropiKids - an affiliate of the Mater-University Study of Pregnancy

Indicative Funding

$40,000

Summary

TropiKids will study the health and well-being of mothers and fathers and the growth, development and health of their children. The information will inform public policy and service provision, and advance our knowledge of the social and biological determinants of health for Tropical North Queensland. The specific focus of this pilot study is to test the materials and recruitment method for the TropiKids Longitudinal study, and to investigate in a tropical environment the associations between maternal and paternal characteristics (including stress), birth outcomes, and infectious disease in the first year of life.

I have over 40 years nursing experience in clinical, education, management and research positions in the private and public health sectors, and tertiary facilities. In 1984-85 I was a recipient of a short-term Kellogg Foundation Australian Nursing Fellowship, through which I spent six months at the University of Rochester, New York, U.S.A., exploring my interest in integrating theory with practice.